A view on two magazines

[baxterj]

Just got the latest WI. I liked the first issue under the new owners, but I am now not so sure if I will be a regular buyer:

• The whole dossier approach similar to WSS. Am not sure if this is to be a regular event, but I do think that it is a bit limiting;

• The lack of opinion or commentary;

• The use of Osprey artwork. It does make it look nice, but if we have the Ospreys we already have the pics. I think that it also might encourage lightweight historical articles at the expense of genuine scenario/rules/ideas articles;

• I can see the start of a trend towards a Osprey/FOG/GF9/Battlefront/Wargames Factory (them or the other one Warlord? – sorry don’t have in front of me) dominated magazine. That is the publisher’s prerogative and there are plenty of other advertisers. Maybe they just don’t have the independent article flow yet (will they ever?).

The other magazine: Military Illustrated. Saw the ad that was in WI and it got me thinking – what a sad relic this is of a formerly great magazine. Every issue – Hitler’s XXXX, Napoleons XXX etc. The first 50-60 issues were fantastic and have articles that I still refer to now. Then it focused on the uniforms firstly and history second. Now it is indistinguishable from those lightweight US military magazines that I pick up in the newsagents and put down 10 seconds later.

John

[Etranger]

Hi John, are we talking about the May issue (which just arrived in the shops here) or one June/July?

I suspect that the use of the Osprey etc work is partly to do with the commerical links between Warlord, Osprey & Battlefront etc but also the need to produce enough copy monthly to fill all those additonal pages that they've promised. That might change as 'the new' WI gets more established & more writers come on board. I'd certainly hope so, although given that the price is staying the same despite the additional content a few duplicate illustrations won't phase me too much. At least it isn't simply FOW Monthly as the Doomsayers predicted.

A bit of commentary or opinion would be useful. At least the reintroduction of a Letters Page could theoretically provide that.

I agree about MI completely. I rarely buy it nowadays, unless there's something that really grabs me. (I don't recall buying it for a couple of years!) Same for all those WWII-Lite magazines. Unless there is something that really interests me &/or contains something new then it stays on the shelf.
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[baxterj]

Et, the issue I refer to is #261 July with the Gettysburg articles. This arrived yesterday at Mind Games in Melbourne. Two benefits under the new ownership - its delivered much faster and its cheaper at $12.

John

[Etranger]

Must be airfreighted then - $12 is quite decent for that.
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[valleyboy]

I was thinking along the same lines John
I got mine by subscription earlier this week
It was of interest being ACW focused but I got the impression that the articles were there to back up the Ads and the links to the ads weren't that subtle or subliminal or someone as thick as me wouldn't have noticed

I'm in it for the year with a subscription - I got my free Perry's
I 've generally enjoyed the WSS approach to date, we'll see how things pan out

Still not a patch on battlegames
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[cpstu]

WI has new owners....so we have to expect a period, (which could be long) of 'bedding' in.....they need time to translate their ideas for the magazine into reality....

Assuming they had plans to change the magazine, (it would be 'odd' if they didn't....) these always take time to shape up?

Contact with them to submit articles has become very difficult too....

stuart

[Giles]

I'm inclined to agree with Mr Baxter. Battlefront distribute Warlord stuff, so it's no surprise that WI has articles that support or push Warlord product. I also find the Osprey illustrations annoying, but then they probably are not annoying for those who have never seen them before and are quite chuffed that the cover price buys them a bit of Osprey-ness too.

I fully appreciate Stu's point about bedding in, and perhaps it is still too early to pass judgment. But I was reminded of the time when White Dwarf went from an outstanding "all games covered" mag to GW's in-house mag.
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[bangorstu]

The last WI I got was the first of the new look ones and I loved it.

OK, I'm an FoW fanboy and am buying Warlord palstic ECW stuff as well, so I'm kind of the target market....

But for the money it provided a lot of bath-time reading, and I also like the Osprey illustrations.

See, if one is dabbling in a period, one doesn't have a library of the 30 relevant Ospreys to hand, so for us poor mortals they are exceptionally useful!

I suspect a letters page will re-appear, but some time is needed for correspondence to reach them!

As for the dossier approach - well I can see why people don't like it. But I do - it gives a chance to explore a subject in depth, Perhaps better for non-subscribers who can pick and choose though...
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[Timmo]

I have to admit to the fact that I don't really bother with the magazines other than Battlegames that offers me everything I really want in a hobby magazine and I'm only prepared to pay for one subs.

I spend far too much time on-line and most of what I research for figures etc is done that way – I kind of feel I've seen enough wargames adverts to last a life time since I'm very set in my periods. I'm far more interested in other peoples ideas and BG and the Lardy Specials for me covers that.

I visit about three shows a year which gives me my annual eye candy fix and most of the magazine images come from those shows…

[MikP]

I'd prefer it if they didn't have dossier issues every issue - the WSS approach for me is more often miss than hit (sadly), and if WI just goes along the lines of choosing the obvious topics then that will interest me even less. This month's MW had a special 1812 issue which was quite interesting, partly because it wasn't D-Day/Gettysburg/Waterloo, but also because there were other articles there too.

My other comment about WI is that I'd like a few different writers to contribute, but then I suppose I should also pull my finger out too!
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[Count Belisarius]

Agree with a lot of the comments above. I thought the product pushing seemed a lot less subtle in the last issue. Also not keen on the dossier approach. Too limiting for me and more likely to produce a mag I'll end up skimming.

Will give them the year of my sub to settle in though. Got my Perry Nap Brits out of it but may end up selling them as it's just one distraction too many...

Andy
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[LardyRich]

My real concern is that the historical aspect of wargaming could be watered down to the extent where the game no longer needs to bear any relationship to actual events. Once we get there we may as well push pixies and goblins around the table.
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[bangorstu]

No chance of Frightening Undead & Cunning Kobolds arriving in my in-box soon then...

Fair enough. ECW would be nice....
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[LardyRich]

Not any time soon.
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[cpstu]

I'm gonna put myself in the new owners shoes for a second....

I've bought a magazine, that had a format that wasn't bringing in more buyers....to use a vehicle to sell my products...

So what do I do?

Firstly I change content to fit my business plan....and if new buyers/customers replace or hopefully exceed the old buyers who don't like the changes and won't buy a copy, then I'm in a win-win situation aren't I?

So long as my, (their) business plan works, (ie, makes money, sells my products) then I'm happy.......

Let's face it, all model companies have a bottom line.....and WI mst have one too......and if the price for commercial success is losing some old customers, but gain more new ones who buy also go on to buy more products...then it was a good plan....

And if you like buying wargames magazines and don't like WI content......then I guess, your stuffed!

What to do......its the way of the world....

stuart

[Peewee]

This is the first issue of WI I've seen that has absolutely nothing of interest in it for me unfortunately. It's all going a bit MOR by the looks of it. At least with WSS you get the odd quirky article thrown in.

On the positive side, I think the production quality is superb even if it is a little bland.

I'll give them another couple of issues to improve the content before I start thinking about cancelling the order with my newsagents though.
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[cpstu]

I wonder if enough ex-buyers of WI approached a magazine say like .......scale military modeller Int. and asked them to add wargames content to their pages, (articles and photos)...would they do it....?

Is their enough ex-readers to make it worth any magazines worth while to change....?


stuart

[levied troop]

I suspect we tend not to be that organised

I agree with CPStu, there'll be a bedding in period before we can see what the real intentions/results are. I don't mind the dossier approach as I'm interested in many periods and welcome the chance to do a little more detail on a subject (not that they're succeeding in that at the moment).

Not sure a letters page would add any real benefit. If you've got a lengthy opinion, better to turn it into a small article - short opinions go on the web .

So far, so ok - but Henry can sleep easy.
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[MikP]

[Etranger]

[cpstu]

Yes.....if not happy.....transfer your allegience.....

The problemw ith readers pages in magazines...if the editor uses it to 'spark' a 'debate, (s**t stirring more like) to raise sales, (lords knows how that works)........the person or company on the receiving end of the letters can't argue their corner effectively......

So it can become a bit of kangeroo court

So I'm with John on that

stuart

[goat major]

i think letters pages have become a bit redundant in the modern world - especially in a monthly publication. The debate will have moved on much more rapidly on various website (and if on here, changed subject radically 9 or 10 times) by the time the next magazine comes out.

[Giles]

Letters should be restricted to comments on articles that have appeared in the mag. WI was at its worst when published, both in article and letter form, those endless "state of the hobby" whinges. But I want to hear if someone has a particular issue with something that's been written up. Occasionally this gets out of hand, like the rather ridiculous letter accusing a writer of being rude about a ACW game at Salute, but then that's what editorial judgment and discretion is for...
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[Big Dave]

I would like to see a magaziner that actually gives stuff a proper review, WI gives everything a glowing review, which makes it hard to know what is actually good, they once gave something rubbish (I forget what) a good review so how do I know that their good reviews are worth anything?
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[Giles]

I think figure reviews in magazines are now completely superfluous and a waste of space. Whilst I appreciate that some readers are not internet users etc etc, new figure releases are heavily trailed on the net, which results in instant reviews by all kinds of people. By the time the magazine review comes out, the product is most likely to have been already reviewed several time on the net. In any event, most mag reviews seem to be along the lines of "this figure is advancing with a gun, the next figure is marching with a gun", even if there is a photo of the figures to accompany the review.

IMHO, reviews in the mags should focus on rules, games and books and leave figures completely. Or do a longer "period comparison" review, in which the reviewer looks at all the figures for one particular period and had size comparison pics etc - that's far more useful than a few lines on the latest Perry releases or whatever.
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